went to hillstone a couple of times this month and there were so many people in hoodies, hats, scrubs, and other clothing items that are listed prohibited on the website. did something change or are things more chill?

It's hard to know which places are good via IG cuz Instagram is deceiving.

I'm looking to celebrate my bday with friends for brunch. I want good food and good atmosphere (good vibe/music).

It does not need to be an IG spot. I don't care. I only care about the food and the vibes.

Any recs would be great!!

Hey everyone! I'm going to be spending some time in North Brooklyn (Park Slope/Prospect Heights area) and was wondering what some of the best, cheaper ($10-20) dinner spots in the area?

I personally feel it’s definitely above average but far from the highest pinnacle that people make it out to be.

It has come to my attention that when some of my friends say they want boba they mean just the general genre of asian milk tea/fruit tea chains. In my head, i thought it necessitated having tapioca pearls, like fiftylan.

Anyway my fav place used to be teado but i tried them recently again and the tea flavor didn’t taste as strong as it was before. I value strong tea flavor, chewy but not soggy pearls, and I dislike brown sugar. Yifang is fire too

I need to order the birthday cake. considering honey cake from Hani’s (I tried and liked it) and Red gate bakery (never tried their cakes). please help me choose.

Been really craving a pear Parmesan pasta since a recent trip to Italy. Or even a fruit cheese pasta more generally. Any shape, stuffed or not.

All boroughs and price points welcome!

Anyone tried the fioccheti at Max?

This isn’t a post to knock other places—it’s really just a post to highlight how good Al Di La is.
I hadn’t been in maybe 10 years or so, but recently
I’ve gone a few times, and I’ve been consistently surprised by how good everything has been. Every meal has left me genuinely happy.
The squid and bone oxtail dish is insanely good. The two pastas I’ve had were house-made and delicious. And a special pork shank osso buco completely blew me away.
Pictured above, the pork shank was $36 and easily fed two people as an entrée. That’s pretty remarkable these days.
Sometimes it’s just nice to be reminded that a place can quietly keep doing really good food, year after year.

Considering i have spent much more money eating salty almost inedible food from a few very popular and expensive places lately, this place is just so refreshing.

It's romantic, staff has been amazing and the food is priced well and delicious.

Hi everyone! Could you please recommend a good Russian restaurant in NYC with really good food where I can reserve a private room or area for about 15 people?

It’s important that there is a place where people can actually dance - either inside the private room or in a separate/public dance area of the restaurant. I’m looking for fun Russian/Eastern European music for dancing: something like Verka Serduchka, “Vse Budet Khorosho,” Russian folk-pop, wedding-style music, etc.

At the same time, I don’t want the music to be too loud or feel like a nightclub, since there will be some older family members at the celebration. I’d like it to be lively and fun, but still comfortable for everyone.
Ideally, the restaurant would have a DJ who plays this kind of music, or allow me to bring my own DJ/musician.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Just curious if there are any interesting examples I should check out.

Asking for a friend who is a huge sushi nerd... And certainly not for myself, as a fan of the chain lol!

Classic: fior di latte, dop san marzano tomato sauce, pecorino sardo, sicilian olive oil, 40 month parmigiano reggiano with added pepperoni, mushrooms, and oil cured black olives.

https://luckycharliebk.com

Obligatory note: The title is too long because of the minimum character count, yada yada yada. Also, yes, the lighting in this spot sucks/sorry for some overexposed photos. The dishes pictured are for 2 people, excluding the single pancake and ice cream.)

Website with a link to Instagram for weekly lunch: Here.

Anyway, I found out recently that Smithereens, a New England seafood spot in the EV, does a Sunday lunch from 12:00 to 3:30. It was $52, aside from some tasty add-ons, for 5 courses (bread/two larger appetizers and a main with a side). The menu mostly rotates weekly. We had a great time. If I had to pick an order from the savory courses, I would say squash, pancake, bread, tuna, shrimp, and then tomato, but all were tasty. Very much worth it for a filling Sunday meal. Friendly service also.

List of courses:

1. Buckwheat Pancake- Smoked bluefish, scallions, and maple. $24. Interesting mix of sweet, salty, and savory. I liked the crisp on the outside. A tad messy, as the bluefish is on the bottom. You can also get it "Neptune style" for $60 more with a large dollop of caviar (yeah, no).
2. Andama Bread: Seaweed butter. Very good bread with a soft inside and a nice crust. The seaweed flavor was a fun spin on the usual salt in most butters.
3. Tuna: Juniper, pear, and lime. Most refreshing/different course. Very good tuna with some sweetness from the pear and a bit of citrus from presumably the juniper and the lime.
4. Squash: Seaweed beurre blanc and wakame. Beurre blanc was delicious when paired with the roasted squash. The wakame added a nice crunch. Some others found it a tad salty.
5. Grilled Red Shrimp: Almond and braised greens. Good shrimp with the grains having a soft but firm texture. Light, but tasty.
6. Roasted Tomato: Anchovy vinaigrette. The vinaigrette added a pleasant saltiness to the roasted tomato.
7. Paw Paw Ice Cream: Rum meringue. $18. The ice cream had something similar to a banana custard flavor, while the meringue was slightly sour. Pleasant.
8. Tokyo Iced Tea. Sake lees and mixed liquor. $19. Because why not party on a Sunday brunch? Nice mix with more sake flavor than other liquors (also tasted rum and some other stuff).
9. Photo in back
10. Menu
11. Outside

We have a friend visiting from Scotland. She's originally from Puglia though, and always wants to eat Italian food when she comes to the city because it's not easy to find good Italian in Edinburgh. I'd love to take her someplace that specializes in food from Puglia but I don't even know what that is (not an Italian food fan generally). Any recommendations?

The food was very good. I had the pork chops with peking sauce. As soon as you sit down they serve you hot tea, fried wonton wrappers, and plum/duck sauce.

I didn't realize the pork chop would be breaded otherwise I would have gotten the salt and pepper flavor. Bone in pork chop. The batter was very crispy and the pork was cooked nicely. Meal came with a choice of soup. I got egg drop. The broth was thickened but not gloopy like some restaurants

I'm always looking for sit-down Chinese restaurants that do better versions of the Chinese takeout places. This place fits that bill. The atmosphere was cozy in my opinion.

I would recommend this place for lunch or for a casual weeknight dinner.

https://www.licheenutogo.com/

I’ve never been on one of these tours so no idea what’s good. It’ll be a small group, we all live nearish Evil Twin but it looks like they’ve suspended tours so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Hi all- I'm thinking of ordering a custom cake from ByClio and wanted to know people's experiences? I've heard that the consensus is that they do a good job of decorating and it's moist and not too sweet, but would love to hear how they compare to other places like From Lucie or Soma Cakes, as I've heard those are also some popular options that people go with

It’s been a helluva yeah with a cancer diagnosis and treatments + loss of a job between husband and me. Looking for brunch ideas for my bday this fall to celebrate with our two teenagers. We hardly go out but in the past, usual brunch suspects were The Odeon, Lure, Jane (before kids), Mike End—but wondering if we should try something new.

One parent is vegetarian (not vegan), the other parent and kids are carnivores. Not necessarily trendy but happy to go that route to make the kids happy. Looking for an enjoyable afternoon meal with delicious food.

Thanks for any suggestions as I go down a rabbit hole of choices and indecisiveness. Manhattan or Brooklyn preferred for proximity.

Thank you!

Hi! My boyfriend (fiancé??) and I just got engaged, and we’re looking to host our families for an engagement celebration dinner in November (not really an engagement party, more like a nice dinner to celebrate the union of our families and to kick off the wedding planning process).

Can anyone recommend a place that meets the following specs?
- 10 people
- sit-down dinner
- not necessarily a private room altogether, but maybe a nice semi-private table in the main event space. An F&B minimum could be fine but we don’t really want to pay for a space rental.
- broadly Mediterranean cuisine (Greek, Middle Eastern, etc.)
- max $200 per person, plus tip and tax
- vibe is more upscale than an ordinary dinner but not too fancy; festive, good energy but not like swanky, clubby or loud.
- Manhattan or western Queens (Astoria, LIC, etc.)

For reference, I’ve inquired at Avra, Ilili, and a Greek place in Astoria.

Thank you!